- In the space below, describe the stasis at the beginning of the play NOT THE FILM of Real Women Have Curves. In other words, “Where are we?” “When is it (time, day, and year)?” “Who are the people involved?” “What is the dramatic situation in which the characters find themselves as the play unfolds?”
- The setting is a sewing factory. It is 6:59 a.m., September 7, 1987. The main characters work in the factory, Ana, Estela – the owner -, Carmen – Estela’s mother -, Pancha, and Rosali. The action follows the Chicano women over the course of a week at the factory, as the women talk about their lives, loves and deepest desires while attempting to meet impossible production deadlines. At the end, the women struggle against the heat and strip down to their underwear as a celebration of women’s bodies.
- What is the intrusion that causes the stasis to be broken in the play and the dramatic action to develop, often at an increasingly rapid pace, to the end of the play?
- Estella admits she is an illegal immigrant. She cannot apply for citizenship until she clears her criminal record. One of which is a sue for not keeping up with the payments of the machines they use in the factory. Because they never finish on time and the company doesn’t pay until they are, her payments are often late. From there they struggle to meet an impossible deadline in order to help her.
- Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor which is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place?
- It is a monday, and if they get the order in by friday, the company will pay Estela and she will be able to pay the machine owners and not have to appear in court.
- State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
- Will the women meet the deadline? Will Estella be able to pay the machine owners and avoid going to court? Will Estella be found by la migra? Will Ana ever go to college?
- Use Ana, the central character, to answer the questions. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, that is, the dramatic actions that are taken by that character. Examine what Ana wants (NOTE: In Real Women Ana's wants seem to be in flux. They change as the play progresses). The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles.
- Ana against society – Ana fights for women’s rights and equality. She hates the way women don’t know how to say “no” to men. In the chicano society, the women are much more traditional. In terms of law, she is also at odds with society because she wants her sister safe and not deported from the country.
- Ana against another individual – initially Ana is dragged to work at the factory by her mother, but all she wants to do is go to college.
- The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Real Women Have Curves.
- One of the most theatrical moments in the play is when the women are all working in the heat of the factory. The women begin stripping down to their under garments, comparing their bodies to each others. They yell and ad lib and the audience can experience what they think about their own bodies.
- Another, near the end, is when the women realize the “La Migras” Carmen had been seeing were actually policemen, and they were there to bust El Tormento. Most of this action is occurring offstage, away from the audience. It is through the women that we get all this information through theatrical reactions.
- Provide at least three examples of images in Real Women. How does the title of the play help us understand the images in the play? (Remember Ball says that, “An image is the use of something we know that tells us something we don’t know.” He goes on to say that images invoke and expand, rather than define and limit.”)
- Dresses – The dresses the chicano women sell go for double that at Bloomingdale’s, yet they a fraction of that price to make them, even though it takes so much work to craft. This is a symbol of inequality in how Chicanos, women, and diverse laborers are taken advantage of and paid less for their work.
- Size/Weight – This comes up several times throughout the play, alluding to a dramatic scene right before the end. The women are constantly fussing about their sizes. Rosali even faints at one point because she hasn’t eaten on account of being on diet pills. It comes to a head when the women strip down to their undergarments from the heat and begin comparing bodies, finally becoming comfortable with their bodies and continuing their work in their underwear. They decide to begin selling larger sizes, because real women have curves.
- La Migra – the image of the immigration police give the audience a sense of the times. Immigration was being cracked down on and there was a very real fear than illegal workers could be deported on any day. They symbolize the violence and fear the chicano society was feeling.
- Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in Real Women.
- Appearance, Self-esteem, women’s rights, citizenship, family, poverty, love, marriage, race, relationships
- Most American plays have something to do with family and/or family relationships. What does family have to do with the dramatic action in Real Women? Is family redefined in this play? If so, how and why?
- In Real Women, Estella is the owner of the factory, and her mother is employed by her. Estella’s sister, Ana, is also employed there - much to her dismay. The three struggle against each other, but also for each other during much of the dramatic action. Everything in the play happens because they want to help Estella escape deportation and pay her debts. I’d say family is redefined in this play in the way that they find family within each other because they are all women. They struggle in the same ways with their love lives, bodies, and children. They are willing to band together to help when Estella is in trouble and take on a familial role of all taking care of one another.